Iqbal Dhalibal Interview

I was born
in 1972 in Bangalore. My father was in the BSF, my mother runs her own school
and my sister is a Doctor. I did my schooling from the Mothers International
School with Sciences (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computers) in 1989. I
completed my B.A. (Honors) in Economics from Sri Venkateswara College, Delhi
University in 1992 and my M.A. in Economics from the Delhi School of Economics
in 1994. I specialized in Developmental Economics, Public Finance, Agricultural
Economics, Money and Banking.

Since childhood itself, my parents wanted me to be an IAS officer - the main
reason being that this is one service which allows an individual to do a
tremendous amount of good work for the people and make a difference in the lives
of a few. As my interest in Economics, especially Developmental Economics grew,
I realized that the IAS gives an economist the best possible opportunity to put
into practice, all that we have learnt for the benefit of the people. I took my
first attempt in June 1994 itself when I sat for the CSE 1994. For
preliminaries, I just studied the NCERT text books for the various subjects and
luckily managed to clear it. But I totally ignored GS and Public Administration
(my 2nd optional) during the Mains. This was the reason that I got just 952 in
the written exam. The interview went exceptionally well (234) so I managed to
get a rank of 229 and was allotted to the Indian Civil Accounts Service Group A.

I accepted the service but took a year's extension since my heart was on the
IAS. For Preliminaries (GS and Economics), NCERT text books were enough. But for
the Mains, the strategy changes to wide reading and very good understanding of
the issues involved in the subjects and in current affairs. I was a voracious
reader of Times of India and the Economic Times so that was manageable. For
Public Administration, I concentrated on just the books by Maheshwari and read
them thoroughly. Economics did not require any preparation
other than keeping abreast with current issues and revising the class notes of
the last 5 years of academics. General Studies required a lot of work
-especially for Science and Technology, Polity, History and
Geography/Environment. Most of this from original texts. My papers luckily went
quite well and I scored 1250 in the written.

The interview does not require any extraordinary preparation other than
developing a bit of confidence in yourself and in being totally abreast of
current issues, besides being versant with the nuances of your optional. Things
went well in the interview again and I was awarded 226, making a total of 1466
which allowed me to join IAS this year. Being at LBSNAA is like a dream come
true - a dream that my family and I nourished for 24 years. Meeting friends from
different services, interacting with some of the best IAS and other service
officers and taking part in a wide variety of activities like Horse riding,
tennis and Net surfing among others is great fun - for which I cannot but again
thank my Father, mother, sister and my fiancée - all of whom have made me
whatever little that I am today.